MSI’s new X99A WORKSTATION motherboard offers what the company calls “extreme QA testing” to go along with the “industries higher quality components” in a motherboard that doesn’t scrimp on features, either. The ATX motherboard supports ECC Registered DIMMs (with a supported Xeon processor), has dual Intel NICs onboard (with teaming support), and offers Steel Armor PCI-E and DDR4 slots, among other features.
“Engineered to cater even the most demanding professional. By using industries’ highest quality components, with an unmatched R&D design and extreme QA testing, the WORKSTATION motherboards guarantee the best in performance, stability and reliability.
Packed with features, including optimizations for NVIDIA QUADRO graphics cards and industry leading storage solutions, the WORKSTATION motherboard is the perfect multi-tasking powerhouse for demanding productivity applications.”
Features from MSI:
- Supports New Intel Core i7 Processor Extreme Edition for LGA 2011-3 socket.
- DDR4 Steel Armor with Best signal stability. Supports ECC Registered memory.
- MULTI-GPU with Steel Armor: Steel Armor PCI-E slots. Supports Nvidia Quadro SLI.
- Maximized high speed storage support: Turbo M.2 32Gb/s + Turbo U.2 32Gb/s + SATA-E 10Gb/s
- USB 3.1 Gen2 2X FASTER: USB 3.1 Gen2 offers performance twice as fast as a regular USB 3.0 connection.
- Military Class 5: The latest evolution in high quality components featuring the brand new Titanium Chokes.
- Dual Intel LAN with Teaming: higher networking performance and stability.
- Audio Boost 3: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality
- Guard-Pro: Improved Protection and Power Efficiency
- EZ Debug LED: Easiest way to troubleshoot
- Overvoltage Protection:Prevent Unforeseen Damage
- Click BIOS 5: Award-winning brand new Click BIOS 5 with high resolution scalable font
The MSI X99A WORKSTATION motherboard is not yet listed on Newegg, but the listing is active (though temporarily out of stock) on Amazon with a $389.99 price tag. As to supported processors, that part of the source link currently offers no information, though MSI states "The X99A WORKSTATION supports the latest Intel processors out of the box, both Broadwell-E and XEON based models".
Hold a minute, I am under the
Hold a minute, I am under the impression that it is definitely the case that ECC memory support is entirely up to the cpu, and that the 2011 socket extreme and k series do not support it.
See these ARK entries, scroll down to Memory Specifications, for the the 5960X vs the E5-2670 v3.
I would assume first that this product supports ECC RAM only on processors that support it.
This board must also accept
This board must also accept E5 Xeon’s which can run ecc and non-ecc dimms.
MSI doesn’t have a page up
MSI doesn't have a page up with CPU compatibility yet, but yes, ECC requires a compatible Xeon.
Limited connectivity options
Limited connectivity options to put it mildly. Only 2 x16 slots and 1 x8, give me a break, that’s Z97 or Z170 territory. I also wonder if MSI bothered at all with RAID controllers testing. For a fact I know that X99 range don’t support 7 series Adaptecs, I have encountered also quite a few problems with burned 6 series cards (except E version with simpler logic).
It’s not difficult to give board WS moniker. It’s very difficult to make a board worthy of that title. And this isn’t it.
NIC Teaming with Intel NICs
NIC Teaming with Intel NICs currently does ONLY work on Win7/Server2008 with Intel Proset Tools, or on Server2012/2016 via Powershell commands.
It does NOT work on Windows 10 at the moment, you (PCPer) should bring that to the readers attention.
See this thread for all the info: https://communities.intel.com/thread/77934
Intel claims compatibility
Intel claims compatibility with Windows 10 with their Advanced Network Services:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/ethernet-products/000005667.html
That said, the only reason I would recommend anyone to run Windows 10 at this point is DX12 support. Clearly there have been issues with the new OS, and most recently the Anniversary Update.
I’m running 10 since the
I’m running 10 since the pre-release insider days, and it’s fine, but that’s not the point here.
Yeah, Intel claims compatibility, but there’s nothing more except that claim. You can’t even install Intel ANS in Win10, be it build 10240, 10586 or 14393, doesn’t matter, it just doesn’t work.
PLEASE look into the thread i posted above. There are people running Realtek Dual NICs where a driver update brought back NIC Teaming with Win10 Anniversary Update….Realtek!!! And Intel keeps silent about this….
Oops, replied to myself
Oops, replied to myself instead of Sebastian.